Carleton’s Panhellenic Council, co-sponsored by the Campus Activity Board, kicked off its Women’s Day programming Feb. 1 with a screening of Miss Representation, a feature-length documentary directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
Miss Representation, which premiered on the Oprah Winfrey Network and played at Sundance in 2011, discusses the hyper-sexualization and misrepresentation of women in American media, and how it affects women’s status in society and politics.
The documentary features interviews from activists, politicians, and figures in the entertainment industry like Paul Haggis, Academy Award-winning director, producer and writer (Million Dollar Baby, Crash), as well as Academy Award-winning actress Geena Davis.
Siebel Newsom asks the documentary’s viewers to use their power as consumers and boycott and protest ads, TV programming, and films that demean women, and support media that present realistic and dynamic female characters.
As Marie Wilson, women’s issues advocate and founder and president of the White House Project, says in Miss Representation, “You can’t be what you can’t see.”
The documentary’s message struck a chord with Caitlin Keaney, a third-year European and Russian studies student at Carleton.
“I think people are unaware of how little representation they have, or mostly how the sexualization of women is in just everything that we say and everything that we do,” said Keaney, a self-identified feminist.
After watching the film, Keaney’s response was a mixture of anger, self-reflection, and most importantly she said, hope.
“At the end of the movie they have a positive message,” she said. “I thought that was very important, not only just to identify the issue but to think of other ways in order to improve the situation.”
“Women in the media” was chosen as the theme for this year’s Women’s Day celebrations because it’s a good entry point for a wider discussion of women’s rights, said Christine Ackerley, chair of Carleton’s Women’s Day’s executive committee.
“The feedback that I’ve been getting so far has been pretty mind-blowing in terms of how many people want to speak out on their thoughts and feelings about this issue, and they never get a chance to because they aren’t in a women and gender studies class,” Ackerley said.
She said that Carleton’s Consent is Sexy week in September was a step in the right direction in terms of making feminist events more accessible and interesting, which the Panhellenic Council intends to do this March with Women’s Day.
Nash Mendes, director of late-night events for the Campus Activity Board said there need to be more female-centric events at Carleton.
“I feel as though [Miss Representation] and the Women’s Day at Carleton is very relevant to what the Carleton community needs to be aware of,” Mendes said.
“Carleton has room to promote the female view on things and promote feminism in the sense that females have the ability to do so much, and I think student organizations within the community sometimes don’t give females that opportunity or throw events to promote the sense of empowerment for women,” he said.
Women’s Day is March 8, and will feature an afternoon of events ending with a panel discussion moderated by MTV’s Aliya-Jasmine Sovani at Carleton.
